Will Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) Stock Be Affected By EU Fine?

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) and other drug makers were fined by the European Union over agreements that delayed the release of cheaper versions of a hypertension treatment.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), along with Les Laboratoires Servier and four other makers of generic drugs, were fined 427.7 million euros, or $583 million, by the European Union over agreements that delayed the release of cheaper versions of a hypertension treatment, Bloomberg reports.

Servier, the inventor of the drug, received the largest penalty at 331 million euros for hampering the generic entry of perindopril. Teva, the world's biggest maker of generic medicines, was fined 15.6 million euros, Bloomberg said.

Shares of Teva Pharmaceuticals are up 0.86% to $53.72 in early afternoon trade.

TheStreet Ratings team rates TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS (TEVA) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: